Schools Biathlon Championships 2008-09
15/09/08 IMPORTANT NOTE: The date for the SW Qualifier should be the 9th November and NOT 8th November as originally published. If you have downloaded a copy of the rules please either modify your copy or download a new version. Apologies for any inconvenience caused.
The British Schools Modern Biathlon (running and swimming) Championships is an annual competition open to school pupils and their teachers with Qualifying events that are run at Regional level during the Autumn Term. The Finals of the Championships are held in the Spring Term. Please see the Schools Competitions page for details of the forthcoming events.
Personalised letters of invitation will be sent out to schools whose details we have, together with instructions and entry forms in the week commencing 08 September 2008. For other schools, you may download here the letter of invitation, entry form and school approval form. A poster which can be used to promote the competition can be downloaded here.
For the 2008-09 season there are a number of significant changes to the way the competitions will run and how compeitors for the British Championships will be selected, with much greater emphasis on a ranking list. These are detailed more on the Rules page where full copies may be downloaded.
In additional there will be an opportunity for the top two qualifiers in each class at each Qualifying competition to go forward to an invitational Schools Biathlon competition to be held at the World Modern Pentathlon Championships on the 15/16 August 2009 at Crystal Palace.
As in Modern Pentathlon, 1000 points is awarded for a “bogey” time for the running and swimming with points being deducted as identified in the table below. Please note that the points per second have been altered for 2008-09 to bring them more in line with the other pentathlon rules.
| CLASS | DISCIPLINE | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Swimming |
Running |
||
|
Distance |
Time for 1000 pts |
Distance |
Time for 1000 pts |
Year 5 |
50m |
40 sec |
1,000m |
4:00.00 |
Year 6 |
50m |
40 sec |
1,000m |
4:00.00 |
Year 7 |
50m |
40 sec |
1,000m |
4:00.00 |
Year 8 |
50m |
40 sec |
1,000m |
3:30.00 |
Year 9 |
100m |
1:20.00 |
1,000m |
3:30.00 |
Year 10 |
100m |
1:20.00 |
1,000m |
3:30.00 |
Year 11 |
100m |
1:20.00 |
1,000m |
3:30.00 |
Years12/13 |
100m |
1:20.00 |
1,000m |
3:30.00 |
Teachers |
50m |
40 sec |
1,000m |
4:00.00 |
We encourage schools to organise an inter-school competitions and they are encouraged to follow these distances and times but have the allowance to adapt an event to take into consideration availability of facilities. The amalgamation of classes and introduction of a younger age group is acceptable in inter-school competitions.
Organisers of inter-school competitions are advised to check their insurance cover, as PentathlonGB insurance cover is only available to organisations who are affiliated to the PentathlonGB.
Hampshire Primary Schools Biathlon Championships
On June 11th Margaret and Mike Page ran the 6th Annual Relay Competition at Eastleigh Leisure Centre. The competition continues to be very popular with 62 teams from 24 Hampshire primary schools, both state and private, entered.
All the teams comprise two girls and two boys and are organised in two classes – Year 5 and Year 6. First there is a 4 by 400m relay run, using the outfield of a cricket pitch, while teams picnic all over the field lending keen and noisy support to their friends.
The competition was fierce, organised in two heats in each class with Yateley Manor winning the Year 5 race in 5.24.56 and Berrywood the Year 6 race in 5.12.36. The competition then moved to the pool where it was even noisier. There was no warm up, due to the large number of small children (almost 250) and the heats were alphabetically organised for simplicity. The standard of the stronger schools was very high with Year 5 Yateley Manor winning the 4 by 25m relay in 1.14.85 and Ridgemede taking Year 6 honours in 1.13.47.
The event is free for schools with Southern Region sponsoring the competition and paying all the bills. The winners in each year group are calculated by finding the lowest total positions and the top school is found from the best placed teams in each year group. Every competitor receives a certificate and the top 5 teams in each year get rosettes.
The final results were:
Year 5
- Yateley Manor
- Abbotswood
- Berrywood
Year 6
- Berrywood
- Ridgemead
- Rookwood
Overall top school was Berrywood.
Next year’s competition is expected to be at Eastleigh on 17 June 2009.
Dorset Schools Biathlon Relays 2008
The third Dorset schools Biathlon relays competition took place at Clayesmore School on Sunday 27 April 2008, with 50 teams competing from around the county. The standard of competition was high with many exciting races throughout the day.
The effort and enthusiasm put in by the athletes was excellent, with everyone giving their best effort. It was also good to see kids who would not usually compete in a school team coming along to take part, with all standards of competitors. We also had the complete novice coming along to have ago and competing along side International biathletes.
Like all these events they would not be possible without the help of the parents & teachers who bring the kids along and especially the parents that officiate on the day. So I would like to thank Guy Smith, Linda Chitty, Steve Luke, Carolyn Buttle, Patrick & Simon Boyne-Manchee for officiating. Also thanks to Clayesmore School for the use of the facilities, and to Glyn Richards the centre manager and staff for all their hard work on the day on setting up the pool and run course.
Well done to all the competitors on making the day an excellent competition with good sportsmanship throughout. Lastly to the schools sports coordinators, schools and teachers on promoting the event and getting teams from the school to compete. There will be a Dorset schools biathlon relays in the summer next year, date TBC.
I will be organising various biathlons and training events over the winter for further contact me at e-mail flaherty121@aol.com or 121 Belgrave, Southill, Weymouth, Dorset, DT4 9SN.
The results are attached.
Michael Flaherty
Area Development Officer
South West Modern Pentathlon
GHS Schools Biathlon Success
Tara Oxley must have known that last Saturday (26th April) was going to be the best weather so far this year, when she chose the date for the first Guildford High School biathlon. Six schools competed in the biathlon, with sixty nine girls from years 5-8 competing. Schools attending were Guildford High, Tormead, Daneshill, Sir William Perkins, Holy Trinity and Rowan.
The run was held in the sun on the track just outside the fantastic new GHS sports centre, parents and teachers alike enjoying the sun, and the brilliant running. Fastest times of the day came in the year 8 age group with Jessica Filby and Poppy Disley-May both from Daneshill, clocking the same time of 3.33, in a very competitive finish.
The year 7 run was won by Lauren Sampson, (GHS) Year 6 Faye Rodgers (Holy Trinity) and Year 5 Sophie Rumble (Daneshill).
Best swim of the day was from year 7, Emma Adams (GHS), closely followed by Izzy Owen, year 8 (Tormead), Tilly Houston, year 6 (Holy Trinity) and Rose Griffiths, year 5 also from Holy Trinity.
The team event was also hotly contested, with Daneshill winning Year 5 and Year 8, Holy Trinity winning Year 6, with the host school Guildford High winning the Year 7 event.
This was the first event of its kind to be held at Guildford High, inspired by Tara Oxley and looks to become an annual fixture.
Also held alongside the competition was a taster fencing session which many of the girls took the opportunity to do, thanks to Steven Davey.
A shoot taster session will be held at the school on June 22nd. Contact Gill Measures.
Parents provided a wonderful lunch and tea, and most took the opportunity to picnic in the unexpected sunshine.
The event was run smoothly and ahead of time, due to Tara’s magnificent team of helpers, which included staff and pupils.
Well done to all!
Individual Results as follows;
Year 5
| 1st | Rose Griffiths | Holy Trinity |
| 2nd | Victoria Hargreaves | Guildford High |
| 3rd | Sophie Rumble | Daneshill |
Year 6
| 1st | Faye Rogers | Holy Trinity |
| 2nd | Alice Booth | Tormead |
| 3rd | Freya Savage | Guildford High |
Year 7
| 1st | Lauren Sampson | Guildford High |
| 2nd | Emma Adams | Guildford High |
| 3rd | Katherine Davies | Daneshill |
Year 8
| 1st | Jessica Filby | Daneshill |
| 2nd | Poppy Disley-May | Daneshill |
| 3rd | Elinor Morgan | Daneshill |
Schools Biathlon - National Championships Results
The results of the National Championships held at Bath University on 24th February are posted here.
Biathlon Qualifier Results
A huge thank you to all of those who entered the Schools Biathlon series of competitions this year. We have had a huge entry and held one of the biggest competitions of its kind at K2, Crawley on 9th December 2007 where 930 athletes entered.
Results from the competitons are available here. Invitations to the final, to be held at Bath University on 24th February 2008, will be sent out in the New Year and this page will be updated when those invitations have been sent.
